Bill Cosby charged with sexually assaulting a woman

Associated Press

Published 1:54 pm, Wednesday, December 30, 2015

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FILE - In this combination of file photos, entertainer Bill Cosby pauses during an interview in Washington on Nov. 6, 2014, and Andrea Constand poses for a photo in Toronto on Aug. 1, 1987. Cosby was charged Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015, with drugging and sexually assaulting Constand at his home in January 2004. They are the first criminal charges brought against the comedian out of the torrent of allegations that destroyed his good-guy image as America’s Dad. less

FILE - In this combination of file photos, entertainer Bill Cosby pauses during an interview in Washington on Nov. 6, 2014, and Andrea Constand poses for a photo in Toronto on Aug. 1, 1987. Cosby was charged ... more

Photo: Associated Press

Bill Cosby charged with sexually assaulting a woman

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ELKINS PARK, Pa. — Bill Cosby was arrested and charged Wednesday with drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home 12 years ago — the first criminal case brought against the comedian out of the torrent of allegations that destroyed his good-guy image as America’s Dad.

The case sets the stage for perhaps the biggest Hollywood celebrity trial of the mobile-news era and could send the 78-year-old Cosby to prison in the twilight of his life and pioneering career.

Prosecutors accused him of plying former Temple University employee Andrea Constand with pills and wine, then penetrating her with his fingers without her consent, while she was drifting in and out of consciousness, unable to resist or cry out.

She was “frozen, paralyzed, unable to move,” Montgomery County District Attorney-elect Kevin Steele said. In court papers, prosecutors said the drugs were the cold medicine Benadryl or some other, unidentified substance. Steele noted that Cosby has admitted giving quaaludes to women he wanted to have sex with.

The TV star acknowledged under oath a decade ago that he had sexual contact with Constand but said it was consensual.

Cosby had no comment on his way in and out of court — and neither did his attorneys — as he was arraigned on a charge of aggravated indecent assault, punishable by five to 10 years behind bars and a $25,000 fine. He did not have to enter a plea and was freed on $1 million bail for another hearing Jan. 14.

Guided by his lawyers, he walked slowly and unsteadily into the courtroom, using a cane and wearing a gray tweed hooded sweater. He seemed to have trouble seeing the paperwork and finding the place to sign, and his lawyers helped him hold the pen. But he seemed at ease, laughing and chatting with his attorneys.

When the judge said, “Good luck, Mr. Cosby,” he shouted: “Thank you!”

The decision to prosecute him came down just days before Pennsylvania’s 12-year statute of limitations for bringing charges was set to run out.

The case represents an about-face by the district attorney’s office, which under a previous district attorney declined to charge Cosby in 2005 when Constand first told police that the comic violated her by putting his hands down her pants at his home in the Philadelphia suburb of Cheltenham.

Prosecutors reopened the case over the summer as damaging testimony was unsealed in Constand’s related civil lawsuit against Cosby and as dozens of other women came forward with similar accusations.